WHEN YOU HAVE MORE THAN YOU NEED, BUILD A LONGER TABLE NOT A HIGHER FENCE

WHEN YOU HAVE MORE THAN YOU NEED, BUILD A LONGER TABLE NOT A HIGHER FENCE

SIDE BY SIDE WITH REFUGEES

Welcome to Side by Side Refugees. Hopefully you found your way here because, like us, you want to support ordinary people who have lost everything.

Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced and desperately need our help. We are a small charity, but we have a committed team of volunteers who give time and skills to help individuals and families trying to find safety and refuge.

We collect and distribute Humanitarian Aid in the form of clothing and food to Northern France and raise funds to provide support where it is most needed. We have worked extensively on the ground in the Calais “Jungle” and in Dunkirk and we work with and support other NGOs with specific projects.

There are lot’s of ways you can help. You can donate money, or even better – donate your time and join the Side by Side team. Have a look around the website and see what we need most today. There’s always something…

Our favourite story

The video below was edited just a few weeks before The Calais Jungle destruction, our aims remain unchanged: responding to this Humanitarian Crisis in Northern Europe as quickly, as efficiently and as sustainably as possible. for our latest action with like minded organisations see here.

This is what my youngest, Oscar, asked me downstairs last night when I got home. As I went upstairs to finish off the bedtime story, Oscar asked me for an extra big snuggle. I’ve been away for three days, and he’d miss me. I thought about the mother I’d seen on BBC2 Exodus last week…

We have just returned from Northern France where we spent four days working at the Care4Calais warehouse with a team of other volunteers from other East London schools helping out refugees in the Calais region.

This was my first ‘convoy’ to Calais. Before I set off, I knew that it wouldn’t be the last, but not even foresight could prepare me for the magnitude of what I would see, and the impact it would have on my daily life once I’d returned.

Less than an hour after we’d left home, we ran out of fuel on the latest convoy trip to Calais. My fault completely. Three of us sat there in the van, playing the blame game (playfully). But it was my fuck up and I knew it. So what? No harm done. It was properly pissing down too. No chance we’re walking 4 miles to fill up…

A work commitment meant a late arrival to ‘The Jungle’. A weary ferry ride with a glass of red wine and six coach loads of young teenagers. Unaware of anything but their friends and their selfies. Unaware of how lucky they were.